Dyeing machine

ABSTRACT

Dyeing machine comprises rotary drum turning in stationary housing and automatically supplied with a succession of fluids or other ingredients, together with external means for regulating the temperature of the bath within the drum. Certain of the ingredients are injected from injectors which are automatically flushed and dried after each injection.

United States Patent [191 Pellerin Nov. 18, 1975 1 1 DYEING MACHINE [75] Inventor: Norvin Leroy Pellerin, New Orleans,

[73] Assignee: Pellerin Milnor Corporation, New

Orleans, La.

[22] Filed: May 7, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 357,609

[52] US. Cl 68/12 R; 68/16; 68/207; 165/169 [51] Int. Cl. D0613 5/22; D0613 23/22; D0613 23/30 [58] Field Of Search 68/12 R, 15, 16, 17 R, 68/207, 24; 134/107; 165/169; 34/125 [56] I References Cited UN1TED STATES PATENTS 2,023,013 12/1935 Faber et 211.... 68/16 UX 2,647,384 8/1953 Erlangerm. 68/17 R 3,298,207 l/1967 Bannon 68/207 X 3,318,376 5/1967 Vihl 165/169 3,347,066 10/1967 Klausner 68/207 X 3.685.325 8/1972 Carpenter 68/207 X 3,686,901 8/1972 Vihl 68/15 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 484.953 5/1938 United Kingdom 165/169 Primary E.\'aminer-Harvey C. Hornsby Assistant EmminerPhilip R. Coe Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Brisebois & Kruger 1 1 ABSTRACT Dyeing machine comprises rotary drum turning in stationary housing and automatically supplied with a succession of fluids or other ingredients, together with external means for regulating the temperature of the bath within the drum. Certain of the ingredients are injected from injectors which are automatically flushed and dried after each injection.

2 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures US. Patent Nov. 18,1975 Sheet10f8 3,919,864

NQ N N? U.S.-Patent Nov. 18,1975 Sheet30f8 3,919,864

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BATH WATER HOT | cow NOTE RECTANGLES BELOW BATH WATER, ADD CHEM- ICAL a AGITATE SPEED FIELDS AT RIGHT INDICATE:

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THIRD FINGERS FINGER APPLICATION LIST 8 CHARTCUTTING INSTRUCTIONS US; Patent Nov. 18, 1975 Sheet 5 of8 3,919,864

Q GNAL MHOT WATER US; Patent Nov. 18,1975 Sheet70f8 3,919,864

US. Patent Nov. 18, 1975 Sheet 8 of8 3,919,864

DYEING MACHINE SUMMARY OF TI-IE INVENTION This invention relates to a machine for use in dyeing cloth, clothing and the like.

Most such devices consist of stationary vats in which the material to be dyed is soaked, through which such material is advanced, or within which such material is agitated.

However, it has recently been suggested that clothing, in particular, be introduced into a rotating perforate drum, which turns in a larger drum containing the dyeing liquid, much as clothing is washed in a conventional washing machine. This invention relates particularly to improvements in machines of this type.

Specifically:

1. In many dyeing operations it is desirable that the dyeing liquor be heated, but if simply heated while outside the drum, and then introduced into the drum, a constant temperature is not maintained. Consequently it is preferable to heat the drum itself, but the use of internal heaters presents certain problems, and external steam jackets must withstand relatively high pressures without adding disproportionately to the cost of the machine. The machine according to the present invention accordingly comprises a relatively strong, but inexpensive, steam jacket.

2. In practice, the machine must be used at different times for different colors, so that reliable means must be provided for purging the dye injectors each time they are used, so that no remainder of a first dye is left to mix with a second dye. This also results in injecting all of the dye supplied for each batch, so that there is no waste. 1

3. It is also desirable to be able to closely control the temperature of the dye bath by controlling the admission of steam to the steam jacket, and special controls are provided for this purpose. v

In general, the dyeing machine according to the present invention represents a modification of a commercial washing machine of the type equipped with the balancing apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 3,117,926.

A preferred embodiment of this machine will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the machine as a whole, showing the front door closed;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the machine;

FIG. 3 is a side view, taken from the left of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view taken from the right of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the pneumatic circuit of the device;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing how the electrical control system controls a representative dyeing cycle;

FIG. 7 shows a chart or tape for use in the electrical control system;

FIG. 8 is a simplified wiring diagram for the low voltage circuits controlled by the fingers of the electrical control system; and

FIG. 9 is a sectional detail view taken along the line IX-IX of FIG. 4.

The machine comprises a stationary base 100 carrying a stationary cylindrical, imperforate outer drum 101 provided at one end with a door 102. A smaller, perforate, inner drum 103 is mounted on a shaft 104 coaxially mounted in the outer drum and projecting outwardly from said outer drum through the rear end thereof, i.e., the end remote from the door. The shaft is journalled in suitable bearings (not shown) and driven through a belt transmission best seen in FIG. 2 either by multi-speed wash motor M1, which may be operated at either of four speeds, by drain speed motor M2, or extraction speed motor M4, depending on the speed desired.

An automatic balancing system is provided, which forms no part of this invention, and may be of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,117,926. In essence, the perforate drum is provided with circumferentially spaced, inwardly projecting, hollow ribs. A vibration detector 106 is responsive to excessive vibration when an excessively loaded section of the perforate drum passes a given point, and causes the introduction of counter balancing water into the rib then most nearly opposite that point.

In addition to the conventional motor control circuits and the circuits of the above-mentioned imbalance control system, my new machine comprises three interrelated systems:

l. A system for introducing hot or cold water into the drums, controlling the level of liquid in the drum, and introducing cold water into the steam jacket for indirect cooling.

2. A system for introducing steam into the steam jacket and controlling the temperature in the drums.

3. A system for introducing supplies such as dye stuffs, scours, fixatives, soaps, and the like into the drum.

The valves in all three systems are caused to automatically operate in a sequence of steps to carry out a complete dyeing cycle by an electrical timing system.

Considering first the water control system, a source of hot water and a source of cold water are provided. These are connected to a water manifold 120, through electrically controlled cut-off valves W1 and W2 respectively. This manifold is connected to a main water inlet hose 121 leading to the drum 103 through the door 102. The cold water source is also connected upstream of the valve W2 to a direct cooldown hose 122 through an electrically controlled valve W3 and manually adjusted throttling valve TVS. The hose 122 leads into the back of the drum at 123. The cold water source is also connected through valve W4 (FIG. 3) to the steam jacket, for indirect cooling of the bath. The cold water for indirect cooling emerges from the jacket through outlet valve W5 and manually adjusted throttling valve TV2 (FIG. 4). The water valves W4 and W5 are actuated by air valve AWV4 as shown in FIG. 5. During indirect cooldown, crossover shut off valve W9 (FIG. 1) closes to insure that the jacket 132 can be completely filled with the cooling water. A drain valve 16 (FIG. 1) connects a liquid outlet in the bottom of the stationary drum 103 to a suitable drain, and is connected to be actuated either by the timing system through air valve ASVS at predetermined times during the cycle of operation, or by a level control device LC, responsive to the liquid level within the drum when it exceeds a desired level. The hot water supply is also connected, upstream of the valve W1, to the tops of the supply tanks for use in flushing the supply tanks to be hereinafter described, and valves W6, W7 and W8 control the supply of hot water to these tanks.

To sum up, the water control system consists of means for introducing either hot or cold water at the front of the drum for normal filling purposes; means for introducing cold water near the top of the back of the 3 drum for rapid cooldown, a drain, a water level responsive device for controlling the drain, means for supplying cold water to the steam jacket for indirect cooling, and means for supplying hot water to purge the supply tanks.

Turning next to the steam system, this comprises firstly a steam jacket 132 (FIG. 4) on the outside of the lower part of the stationary drum 103. This jacket is made in an unusual manner in that it consists of laterally spaced segments of channel members 133 the edges of which are welded to the outside of the stationary drum as shown in FIG. 9. The spaces between the channel members are bridged by arcuate plates 134 welded to the tops of the channel members so as to form two sets of passageways, one inside the channel members and one outside the channel members beneath the arcuate plates. Both sets of passageways terminate in headers 135. The advantage of this arrangement is that the outer wall of the jacket is firmly attached to the drum along a large number of lines, so that it can resist high pressures, but there are no bolt holes in the drum wall to constitute potential leaks.

Steam is introduced into at least one of these headers 135 through valves SVl and SVIA, controlled by air valves ASVl and ASVS, respectively, and condensate is withdrawn at the bottom through condensate return 136. A steam trap bypass outlet 137 is also provided. The routing of fluid leaving the steam jacket to either the steam trap bypass or the condensate return is controlled by a valve actuators 140B and 140A controlled by a thermostat 140 inside the front of the machine frame. These actuators operate air valves ASV3 and ASV4 to open the steam bypass valve SV3 and close the condensate outlet valve SV4 and vice versa, so that when the fluid temperature is below the setting on the thermostat, the outgoing fluid passes to the steam trap bypass; if above, to the steam trap. The machine also comprises adjustable thermostats T1, T2, (FIG. I) and T3 (FIG. 4) which detect the temperature inside the drum and which can be set to normally maintain the temperature within the drum at a desired level by regulating either inflow of steam through inlet valve SVl, or the inflow of cold water directly into the stationary drum through valve W3 or the inflow of cold water through cooldown valve W4 through which cold water can be introduced into the steam jacket to provide cooling without introducing additional water into the bath, which would have a diluting effect.

Turning next to the treating material supply system, a suitable number of sealable supply tanks for receiving liquid supplies are located on the left side of the machine (as seen from the front). Only three tanks, 206, 207 and 208 are illustrated, but there are usually more provided. These tanks are provided with water inlets controlled by valves W6, W7, W8 (FIG. 5) and air inlets controlled by suitable valves, AV6, AV7 and AV8, respectively. Each tank is also provided with an outlet valve (0V6, 0V7 and 0V8, respectively) in a passage leading into the stationary drum. These outlet valves are operated by air valves AVl, AV2 and AV3 respectively. Assuming that a given tank has been filled with a dye, for example, and that the control finger for that tank in the electrical control system hereinafter described has closed the circuit for tank 206, the solenoid controlled air valve AV6 will be opened and simultaneously, air valve AVl will be actuated to open outlet valve 0V6, so that the air introduced through AV6 ejects the dye from the tank into the drum. Simultaneously with the start of injection the drum is caused to rotate at the fastest of the four available wash speeds, for an adjustable time period, to insure better dispersion of the dyestufi and chemicals throughout the drum. After a suitable (and adjustable) time delay air inlet valve AV6 is closed and water inlet valve W6 supplying water is opened to flush the tank. Preferably the water is supplied as a spray directed against the wall of the tank, which is made of stainless steel to facilitate cleaning. After additional time delay required for flushing, the water inlet valve is closed and air inlet valve AV6 reopened so that drying air is forced through the tank. This sub-cycle is then complete, both AV6 and 0V6 are then closed, and the tank is ready to be filled with additional dye.

These supply tanks may contain dyes, soaps, bleaches, dye assistants such as mordants, or any other materials useful in a dyeing operation.

In practice a complete dyeing cycle is initiated by simply pressing a Start button, and the various steps within the cycle are started and terminated automatically by the electrical control system. This system may be of a conventional type utilizing a plurality of flexible electrically conductive fingers urged toward the surface of a revolving drum having an electrically conductive surface. A perforated tape is mounted on the drum and whenever a perforation appears between a finger and the drum a circuit through that finger is completed to actuate some component of the machine. The length of time the circuit remains closed depends on the length of the perforation and the speed of rotation of the drum. A representative control system of this type is described in US. Pat. No. 3,710,600.

A representative cycle of operations will now be described, particularly with reference to FIGS. 6, 7 and 8. FIG. 6 shows the steps to be carried out and identifies the fingers which must contact the control drum to carry out these steps. FIG. 7 shows a tape which has been perforated to carry out the cycle of FIG. 6. Solid black indicates the perforations. FIG. 8 shows the circuits controlled by the tape. The numbers identifying the fingers are purely arbitrary and have no relationship to the numbers assigned to those components actuated by the circuits controlled by those fingers. The reference numerals of the components themselves, where applicable, are found at the bottoms of the respective columns in FIG. 6, and explanations at the bottoms of the columns in FIG. 7.

Referring now to those two figures, once the timer motor which drives the drum carrying the tape is started and the tape or chart shown in FIG. 7 begins to turn, the first step, beginning from the top of FIG. 6 and the bottom of FIG. 7, is for finger 14 to close the circuit closing the drain valve 16, while finger 15 closes the circuit opening hot water inlet valve W1, the adjustable level responsive device LC is set to permit a high liquid level in the drum by finger l7, and the wash speed motor M1 is connected to run at its second speed by finger 27.

Forty seconds later a liquid scour is added from supply tank 206 when finger 25 closes a circuit actuating the air solenoid valves AV6 and AVl controlling tank 1, and thus initiating the remainder of a complete supply injection sub-cycle as previously described.

Eighty seconds later (1 minute and 20 seconds from the beginning of the cycle) the water temperature is adjusted to F when the combination of fingers l6, l9 and 20 activate circuits to stop the chart and open steam valve SVl. When the temperature in the drum reaches Tl-I3, steam valve SVl is closed, and the chart restarted.

At the end of 6 minutes from start-up the water is cooled to 140F. Fingers 16, 19 and 20 are opened to terminate the thennostatic control, and the water cooled to 140F when finger 29 opens cooldown valve W3. Simultaneously the :chart stops until the drum temperature reaches TC2 after which the chart restarts and finger 29 then closes this valve after a predetermined interval. I

At 6 minutes 40 seconds, with the drain valve still open, finger 13 closes a switch connecting theextraction speed motor M4 to centrifugally extract fluid from the clothing in the perforated drum.

At 8 minutes 20 seconds, rotation at extraction speed is discontinued, when the circuit controlled by the finger 13 opens. At the same time the fingers 12, and 16 close the circuit energizing valves W2 and W3 to in troduce a spray of hot and cold water through the main inlet in the front end of the drum. At 8 minutes 40 seconds the finger l5 closes hot water inlet valve W1, leaving only cold water coming in.

At 9 minutes, finger 14 closes the drain valve 16, while the cold water inlet valve W2 remains open, so that the drum begins to fill up.

At 9 minutes seconds, 10 minutes 20 seconds, 12 minutes 20 seconds, and 14 minutes 20 seconds, various chemicals are added by fingers 21-24, each of which preselects one of the valves AV6, AV7 and AV8 controlling the respective supply tanks, and then finger 25 to initiate the injection cycle for the selected supply tank each time initiating a complete injection, tank washing, and tank drying sub-cycle, as hereinbefore explained.

At l5 minutes 20 seconds fingers 15, 19 and 20 act on valve SVl opening it to the extent required to admit sufficient steam to the steam jacket to bring the bath temperature to 208F, the fourth of the four specific temperatures for which the thermostats T1 and T2 have been set to selectively maintain. The control circuits are so arranged so that whenever temperature TH4 is programmed, once steam valve SVl closes (signifying the drum temperature has reached the desired temperature) auxiliary steam valve SVlA opens to maintain a lesser flow of steam to the jacket thus maintaining a temperature at or near the boiling point of the liquor in the drum. The steam flow through SVlA is adjustable by throttling valve TVl (FIG. 3).

This temperature is maintained for 29 minutes with the steam inlet valve SVl and SVlA acting under the control of the thermostats T1 and T2.

The method of carrying out the remaining steps is believed obvious from the preceding description of steps l-19, and FIGS. 68. In FIG. 8 the circles represent the coils actuating the solenoids of the valves controlled by the respective fingers, l lrepresents normally open contacts, isknormally closed contacts, and TD time delay means.

Essentially, each finger opens and closes a circuit which, when closed, actuates a specific electrically actuated water control, steam control, or pneumatic control valve. It will, however, be appreciated that, in commercial practice, these circuits include other switches designed to correlate the operation of these valves with that of other components. While some of these are shown in FIG. 8, they are not identified, since they are essentially conventional and are not essential to an un- 6 derstanding of the present invention. For example, certain of the circuits contain switches that are open whenever the door is open, so that the valves controlled thereby cannot be operated unless the door is closed.

It will be understood that all details are not shown in the drawings to avoid undue complexity. For example, fingers may be provided which-will open valves of different sizes for admitting the same fluid, a plurality of hot water valves, a plurality of cold water valves, a plurality of steam inlet valves or the like. Thus by opening a selected smaller or larger valve the rate of heating or cooling may be controlled to avoid abrupt changes in temperature.

It is also possible to provide a small valve by-passing a large valve, which is followed by a sensor, with the large valve opening only after a time delay. This permits the system to set itself before the large valve opens.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that the invention provides an unusually flexible machine for automatically carrying out a large variety of dyeing operations, requiring the use of differing dyeing chemicals, and differing requirements as to temperature and duration of treatment. This flexibility has heretofore been lacking in most dyeing apparatus. All that is necessary to shift from one dyeing process to another is to fill the supply tanks with the appropriate chemicals, and mount the appropriate control tape or chart on the rotating drum.

What is claimed is:

1. A dyeing machine which comprises in combination:

a stationary housing,

a perforate drum mounted to rotate within said housmeans for selectively introducing hot and cold water into said housing to form a bath therein, said drum being positioned to rotate through said bath, a plurality of supply tanks mounted on said housing, means for selectively injecting supplies from said tanks into said housing and the bath therewithin,

an external steam jacket on the wall of said housing,

said steam jacket comprising a plurality of parallel laterally spaced channel members extending part way around said drum and terminating in transverse headers, said channel members having their edges welded directly to the wall of said drum, and a plurality of arcuate plates bridging the spaces between said channel members and welded thereto so as to form additional channels terminating in said headers,

means for selectively introducing water and steam into the said jacket, and

electrical control means for adjustably and automatically controlling the introduction of hot and cold water into said housing and jacket, the introduction of steam into said jacket, and the injection of supplies from said tanks into said housing in a predetermined succession of steps in order to carry out a dyeing cycle.

2. A dyeing machine which comprises in combination:

a stationary housing,

a perforate drum mounted to rotate within said housing,

means for selectively introducing hot and cold water into said housing to form a bath therein, said drum being positioned to rotate through said bath,

a plurality of supply tanks mounted on said housing,

each of said tanks being provided with an individual outlet valve, a water inlet valve and an air inlet valve,

means for selectively injecting supplies from said tanks into said housing and the bath therewithin,

an external steam jacket on the wall of said housing,

said steam jacket comprising a plurality of parallel laterally spaced channel members extending part way around said drum and terminating in transverse headers, said channel members having their edges welded directly to the wall of said drum, and a plurality of arcuate plates bridging the spaces between said channel members and welded thereto so as to form additional channels terminating in said headers,

means for selectively introducing water and steam into said jacket, and

electrical control means for adjustably and automatically controlling the introduction of hot and cold water into said housing and jacket, the introduction of steam into said jacket, and the injection of supplies from said tanks into said housing in a predetermined succession of steps in order to carry out a dyeing cycle, said control means being adapted to automatically operate said air inlet, water inlet and air inlet valves successively to eject supplies from the tank, flush the tank, and dry the tank when said outlet valve is open. 

1. A dyeing machine which comprises in combination: a stationary housing, a perforate drum mounted to rotate within said housing, means for selectively introducing hot and cold water into said housing to form a bath therein, said drum being positioned to rotate through said bath, a plurality of supply tanks mounted on said housing, means for selectively injecting supplies from said tanks into said housing and the bath therewithin, an external steam jacket on the wall of said housing, said steam jacket comprising a plurality of parallel laterally spaced channel members extending part way around said drum and terminating in transverse headers, said channel members having their edges welded directly to the wall of said drum, and a plurality of arcuate plates bridging the spaces between said channel members and welded thereto so as to form additional channels terminating in said headers, means for selectively introducing water and steam into the said jacket, and electrical control means for adjustably and automatically controlling the introduction of hot and cold water into said housing and jacket, the introduction of steam into said jacket, and the injection of supplies from said tanks into said housing in a predetermined succession of steps in order to carry out a dyeing cycle.
 2. A dyeing machine which comprises in combination: a stationary housing, a perforate drum mounted to rotate within said housing, means for selectively introducing hot and cold water into said housing to form a bath therein, said drum being positioned to rotate through said bath, a plurality of supply tanks mounted on said housing, each of said tanks being provided with an individual outlet valve, a water inlet valve and an air inlet valve, means for selectively injecting supplies from said tanks into said housing and the bath therewithin, an external steam jacket on the wall of said housing, said steam jacket comprising a plurality of parallel laterally spaced channel members extending part way around said drum and terminating in transverse headers, said channel members having their edges welded directly to the wall of said drum, and a plurality of arcuate plates bridging the spaces between said channel members and welded thereto so as to form additional channels terminating in said headers, means for selectively introducing water and steam into said jacket, and electrical control means for adjustably and automatically controlling the introduction of hot and cold water into said housing and jacket, the introduction of steam into said jacket, and the injection of supplies from said tanks into said housing in a predetermined succession of steps in order to carry out a dyeing cycle, said control means being adapted to automatically operate said air inlet, water inlet and air inlet valves successively to eject supplies from the tank, flush the tank, and dry the tank when said outlet valve is open. 